He said, She said

I had to laugh the other day when I heard a scream and then Cortlan say, "Everly scared me out of heck!"

I had to worry yesterday when, after Cortlan asked Everly why she liked shopping so much, her response was, "I just dream about it."

Stained fingertips

My alarm went off at 6 AM this morning, as it has every day this summer.  I pressed the snooze alarm; ten minutes later I pressed it again.  It is nice to have that luxury.  It is also nice to wake before the kids, get the cup of coffee that is waiting for me thanks to a programable coffee pot, and go sit on the porch or deck to enjoy it. 

This morning, the air was cool and crisp...a warm welcome after the stifling heat and humidity of the heat wave that only broke on Sunday.  I believe it was seven consecutive days of above 90 degree temps that led us to this point - a point where an 80 degree day feels like a cool relief.  I will take it either way - in the 90 degree temps, we enjoyed the pool tremendously.  We also enjoyed the air conditioning every now and then, like when we took a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's for the afternoon.

But today was a perfect day to be outside.  We were at the park by 9 AM...the kids rode bikes, I ran.  We cleaned the car, inside and out.  We swung on the swings...Cort is finally getting the hang of pumping his legs.  

And then we got on our sneakers and headed to the woods for a walk.  Our neighbors told us they had found blackberry bushes, and we even got to taste one of the berries last night as a tease.  Today, the kids were ready to claim their own.  As we got deeper into the woods, we were concerned we wouldn't find any.  But as the denser trees cleared into an overgrown field with high bushes and plants of all sorts, we spotted our first prize. 

With our red Solo cups, we collected berry after berry, staining our fingertips as we went.  I told the kids about my berry picking adventures as a kid and told them how much I enjoyed walking in the woods.  "Me, too!" they both responded. 

Honestly, I am not sure which of us enjoyed it more today.

Water love

It is hard to believe that at the beginning of the summer, neither of my kids would leave the steps of the pool and neither would attempt to swim, even with flotation devices on.

It is hard to believe that Everly, for the first week of swimming lessons, cried and had to be pulled out of the group.  

And it is hard to believe that, until about two weeks ago, Cortlan wouldn't jump in the water without holding onto someone's hands.

It is amazing what time and exposure can do....and patience.  I am learning to not rush things.  I am learning there is a balance between pushing and waiting and just letting things happen.  Sometimes that is hard, but I am learning.

Happy 4th of July!

Napless Idlewild

Part of me kind of feels as though I have been neglecting this blog, but the reality is that I have way less computer and relaxation time than I used to.  My kids used to religiously take naps from about 1PM until 3PM or later...every day.  Now, we are lucky to get them to stay in their rooms for an hour, and the likelihood that they sleep is about 50/50.  Actually, it is Cortlan who more often falls asleep; for whatever reason, Everly has always seemed to thrive on less sleep than him.  (I clearly remember the 15 minute catnaps when she was a baby that had me pulling my hair out.)  So, while I used to get things done for an hour or so and then still have an hour left of to write this blog or read or otherwise relax and sometimes accomplish something during nap time, this summer I am generally not even getting a load of laundry done and my kitchen cleaned from lunch by the time the kids are out of their rooms again.

The reduction and soon (I predict) elimination of nap time has its positives and negatives.  On the positive side, I do feel much more confident that we will make it through a day of activity without complete meltdowns now.  Thus, I am less apt to experience the customary anxiety when we plan a day away from home.  In fact, last week, we spent a beautiful day at Idlewild with no incidents whatsoever, and stayed longer than we ever had before.  The kids rode most of the kids' rides, we walked through Storybook Forest, played in the ball pit, and went on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood Trolley ride where we invited everyone to "Come along, come along, to the castle hug 'n song!"  We were also able to ride most of the "big kid" rides.  Everly went on her first roller coaster and Ferris Wheel rides, plus a number of spinny rides.  The weather was great, and the day was nearly perfect.  The only bad thing was that my battery died on my camera after only a few pictures.

Of course, the motorcycle ride was one of the first rides of the day!

The kids surprised John and me by excitedly joining the crowd at the Thomas show.

For the first time, they were actually able to pull the handle hard enough to ride high on the airplane ride (though this pic was taken before they started).